Chapter 36: Donkey Cart

Name:Mutated Tao Author:
Chapter 36: Donkey Cart

Li Huowang looked at the six pieces of silver and accepted them directly; after all, he needed the money.

“Young Taoist, please take your time eating. We will go and prepare first. We will depart tomorrow.”

After eating until they were full, the members of the Lu family felt groggy. They went back to rest and get some sleep since they hadn’t slept at all last night.

After they left, Li Huowang was the only one left in the room. Staring at the roasted chicken that was even larger than his head, he called for the Hu family’s servants. “Is there something I can use to store and carry this?”

Soon, Li Huowang exited Wuli Gang with a donkey cart filled with bags of food.

He had to properly budget the six pieces of silver. Even though this amount was not enough to buy a horse, it was still sufficient to buy an old donkey and a cart. At the very least, they would no longer have to carry food by themselves.

When Li Huowang came out of Wuli Gang, he saw that everyone was huddled in the rice field amidst the dried rice stalks; they hadn’t entered the village as they were afraid of scaring the villagers.

At that moment, Li Huowang saw that they were roasting some sweet potatoes. He reached into the cart and took out the roasted chicken. “Here, eat this.”

The people in their group had been eating dry rations for so long that upon seeing the chicken, they exploded with happiness and rushed over. A single chicken was then portioned and shared between ten people. While they didn’t have much, they ate it carefully, even going so far as to chew the bones as they ate it!

“Senior Li, where did the chicken come from? And the donkey cart? Just where did you go yesterday?” Bai Lingmiao asked while carefully chewing a piece of chicken.

Li Huowang lied down on a stack of dry rice stalks before slowly recounting the incident that happened yesterday.

After hearing how Li Huowang had risked his life to obtain these things, Bai Lingmiao placed down the piece of chicken and slowly approached him; she was worried about him.

“Senior Li, we are so sorry for dragging you down. If it wasn’t for us, there would be no reason for you to fight so hard.”

Li Huowang opened his eyes and looked at the girl wearing a green-colored cloth as a blindfold.

“It’s not your fault. Since that ‘thing’ could appear in the ancestral hall, it means that ‘it’ had been following us all this time. Even if ‘it’ hadn’t appeared yesterday, we would meet ‘it’ again sooner or later,” Li Huowang explained.

“Also,” Li Huowang paused and remembered the times he was stuck in his hallucinations back at the Zephyr Temple, “we still don’t know who will be dragging who in the future.”

He looked at the girl and gently held her hand.

Just as Bai Lingmiao was about to pry her hand off in embarrassment, she stopped.

Li Huowang slowly closed his eyes as he lay down on the dry rice stalks. Then, he gently loosened his grip on her hand.

Just as Li Huowang wanted to see what Lu Zhuangyuan was about to say, a cloud of dust billowed from behind them.

Soon, a horse stopped in front of them before a plump man jumped down.

Lu Zhuangyuan recognized him as someone from Wuli Gang. He paid his respect to the man and said, “Aiyo! Aren’t you the youngest son of the Hu family? Where are you going in such a rush?”

“Nowhere! I just want to follow you! This way I can listen to your performances every day!”

The youngest son of the Hu family was quite excited. Even though he looked like an adult, his tone was still quite child-like.

“Aiyo~ Please don’t make such jokes. Quickly go back and don’t make your grandfather worry about your safety!”

“Don’t worry! I will pay you!” He said as he took out a solid gold chain and forcibly placed it into Lu Zhuangyuan’s hand.

Lu Zhuangyuan alternated between looking at the gold chain and the man, feeling quite conflicted.

However, a group of people riding on horseback soon arrived beside them.

“Father! Don’t take me back! I refuse to go back! I want to become a performer!” said the Hu family’s youngest son.

At that moment, the sound of a slap was heard as the youngest son of the Hu family was slapped by his father. Everyone was shocked to see his face swell up.

“You want to become a performer? Are you stupid?! They are the lowest of the low! If you become one, then I will personally kill you!”

As the man said that, he took the gold chain back and took his son before rushing back to Wuli Gang.

Once they left, Li Huowang stared at Lu Zhuangyuan, waiting to see what he was about to say.

Lu Zhuangyuan stood there in shame. He held the sausages in his hand and wanted to say something, but no words came out. It was the first time that the experienced old man looked just like a lost child.

In the end, he didn’t say anything. He forced a smile before nodding. Then, he dragged his son back to his carriage, his back looking even more hunched than before.

Chacha and Char’s Thoughts

Aw man that was uncalled for. Poor Lu Zhuangyuan